You Ought to Be In Pictures! The Process of Making a Company Video – Part 1

Why Make A Company Video?

With social media becoming more and more important for small businesses, company videos streaming from the web are often a very effective way to communicate with your existing and/or potential clients.  The quality of online streaming video today can be absolutely stunning, light years beyond the low-resolution grainy short clips with poor sound quality that were commonplace only a few years ago.

In addition, research shows that more and more people in the workplace are turning to the Internet as their primary source for media, including news, entertainment, and general information.  Take a look at this infographic, prepared by Accredited Online Colleges, that illustrates the current trend away from traditional television and toward the Internet for media needs.

So it seems the savvy business owner of 2012 is taking advantage of this trend and creating video presentations to educate and entertain the infinite audience of the Internet.  Be careful, though!  The best intentions will be completely ignored if your video is poorly planned and produced, creating a less-than-desirable first impression of your company for the viewer … who may not give you a second chance to impress them.  And, as you may already know, once your video has entered the social media world, it can be difficult to undo it.  As much as your competition may love to have something that makes you look bad, I’m guessing that’s not something YOU want.

So how do you make a video that looks great, properly represents your company, effectively communicates with your audience, and is formatted correctly to play well on everything from a fast computer to a smart phone?  Well … that’s why I’m here, my friends … to bring clarity to a confusing process through a series of articles that I hope will help inspire you to start planning your own video projects.

In this series, we’re going to walk through the process of making a company video, from the perspective of YOU, the business owner.  We’ll look at the preliminary work you’ll need to do, how to locate and select a video production company, how to effectively communicate your plan to ensure a clear understanding of the work to be done, and some tips for keeping your video vendor on track.  Stay tuned … it’ll be fun, I promise!

Next up in the series:  Know Your Limitations!